Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gswz6aD8noNbZGXs7  

 Before the Start:   My 31^st race of 2025 was the 2^nd event of the d-Dragon Productions Summer Series 5k, a series of 5 races done over the summer to raise scholarship funds for students. Race #2 was held at Southside East Lions Park, located on Pecan Valley Road in San Antonio.  I picked up my friend Carolyn and we headed to the park. After I missed a turn, Carolyn got directions on her phone, which basically wound us around for a while, lol, until we finally found the place. We had started out early, thankfully, so arrived with plenty of time; so early, in fact, – around 5:30 a.m. –  that we beat the packet pickup folks there. We thought we were in the wrong parking area, so search the park some more and finally found the right area…which was verified by the e-Dragon equipment truck arriving shortly after we got there.  After they got set up, we got our race packets, and I wandered here-and-there chatting with friends and other participants; vendors/sponsors; volunteers, etc., and got a few pre-start photos. This was a fairly smaller event with 112 finishers.

On the course:  We started out near the pavilion at the park. The course was done on the concrete paved trails of the park. There was a Kid’s Run at 7 a.m. and then the 5K started at 7:15 a.m.  The majority of the first mile of the course was flat, taking us on a trail that had the lake on our right going out. We then crossed over one of the park roads and went onto another trail that went down a slight incline and then across a bridge over Salado Creek, and at that point we began to climb.  The climbs were not all that steep, but they sure were long. I think my friend, Race Director Erik, went to his dictionary and blacked  out in it the word “flat”, lol. I did my usual thing of run-8 minutes-walk 2 minutes and took some photos during my walk breaks.  After hitting the mile mark and my second walk break, I then pretty much ran non-stop to the turn-round point, with just a couple of quick photo stops along the way, and did the same on the way back to the finish. I ended up with a chip time of 42:01, averaging 13:31 per mile, which was good enough for 3^rd in my males 70-74 age group; especially as there were only 3 in my age group, lol. My very speedy-and-long-legged friend Jim was first.  

After My Finish: A nice touch done by the e-Dragon people is having iced-down small towels near the finish line to help you cool down. This was especially appreciated for this event as our temp was 78 degrees at start time and the humidity was very high. I wrapped one on the back of my neck while doing a short cool-down walk and then got a few photos of other finishers coming in, while enjoying some iced-down bottled water too. I also went and sat in my car for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast and that was very cooling too. After that, I wandered around, chatting with finishers, supporters, volunteers, vendors, etc. and getting a few after photos of happy finishers, some of the award recipients, vendors, and more.   The awards started with the younger groups first so, being in one of the oldest age groups, lol, I had plenty of time to get some more photos. The age group award is a very large medal, really nicely designed, that has a code on the back of it that can be used for a registration discount, very nice. The race shirts are really nice too. In spite of those climbs, lol, it really is a nicely thought-out course and well done.  Also, to be fair to Erik, the 5Ks for upcoming races 3 and 4 are being done at parks that have pretty flat terrain – Lady Bird Johnson Park, which has very short incline – you can’t really call the thing a hill – at the start and finish, and a longer incline – again, you can’t really call it a hill – near Mile 1. McAllister Park…this one depends on which trail is used. If it’s the one by the lower soccer fields, that that trail is pretty darn flat all the way; so we get a break for those two, lol; and then the last one is at Pearsall Park…..one of the darn hilliest parks I’ve ever run in, lol, with lots of off-road trails. I cannot handle off-road anymore with this spinal arthritis, so I passed on this one. Even so…these are all quality races, so I would certainly recommend you give them a try sometime. Epilogue:  The course was very well thought-out, with enough room for all to maneuver around, especially as it was a smaller event; it felt more like it was a big get-together of running friends out to enjoy a group run and each other’s company. Very nice race shirts and the afore-mentioned age-group medals are awesome.  I would do this one again and would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us and were out there for us, e.g. e-Dragon folks and all the race-day volunteers; iaap for the timing and results; all the sponsors and vendors; the guy in the Dragon suit  on this very warm day, getting photos with everyone who asked, and with the award winners; the official photographers on the course; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! See you at the next one if you’ve signed up for it or if you are a volunteer, vendor, etc.